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By C. D. Bradlee. 

George Henry Gay, son of George and Nancy (Lovering) Gay, 
was born in Boston, Mass., at the South End, near Dover Street, March 
23rd, 1823. When very }'onng he was placed in the Public Primary 
School, and at the age of 10, entered the Boston Latin School, that he 
might lit for College, and eventually become a Surgeon. As a boy he 
was distinguished for wonderful surgical gifts, and all sorts of bugs, 
fishes, and snakes, were regularly and wonderfully dissected, until at 
last, subjects failing, his Mother's favorite Cat mysteriously disappeared, 
nor was the strange event satisfactorily explained, till weeks afterwards, 
when the skeleton of a cat was found amongst the treasures of young 
George ! 

At the early age of 15, Gay entered Harvard University, received a 
"Detur" his Sophomore year that bore the autograph of the well known 
Josiah Quincy, and graduated with a respectable rank for scholarship, 
in the class of 1842. He at once entered upon the study of medicine, 
and surges, under the care of Dr. Winslow Lewis, and had constant 
anatomical practice in the private dissecting room of his experienced 
teacher. During this time he gave such decided marks of his great 



genius, Lis wonderful judgment, his quick insight into character, and 
the glorious cunning of his hand, that when he came to graduate, only 
one question was put to him, viz — 

"GAY, DESCRIBE THE HEART," 
and the reply being given, with force, as all his replies were given, with 
beauty, clearness, and grace, he was immediately reccommended for 
a medical degree. This was in 1845. 

After receiving his degree, he started for Paris, where he remained 
for two years, dovoting himself to study in the most famous medical 
schools of that city, and acquiring a fund of massive knowledge that 
laid a rich foundation for his great reputation. 

On his return from Europe, in 1847, he was chosen one of the Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons of the Boston Dispensary, but as he found that this 
office cramped his power, and exposed him to great dangers, having once 
nearly lost his life by a fever contracted on a visit to a poor patient, he 
soon relinquished the position, and gave his whole time to personal prac- 
tice, and from this moment, he commenced to rise in public repute, till 
at last he stood at the head of his profession ! Wonderful stories could 
be told of successful operations that he performed such as all other Dec- 
tors refused to undertake, and one striking instance has been given of 
a patient apparently bleeding to death, whose case had been given up 
as fatal by some of the most eminent physicians of Boston, and whose 
life was saved as soon as Dr. Gay was called, although young Gay 
always modestly refused any credit for the cure, and used to say 
that it so happened the man recovered at the time he was placed under 
his care. 

In 1855 he was elected one of the visiting surgeons of the Mass. Gen. 
Hospital, and it must be remembered that an appointment of this kind 
was only conferred upon those generally considered to possess the most 
preeminent talents, and Gay was then only thirty years old ! This 



fact is sufficient to show at how early an age this wonderful man reached 
by the confession of the public, the highest point of professional success. 
Even previous to this time, he had been appointed a Teacher in Ana- 
tomy, in the "Tremont Medical School," and had there given full proof 
of his rare powers. 

In the department of Tracheotomy, it has been confessed by one 
of the most celebrated French Physicians, that Gay deserved to be 
classed amongst the leading physicians not" only of America, but of 
Europe, and it is certainly one of the most pleasant things to be re- 
membered, that so many children have been relieved, by his daring to 
undertake an operation that older men had looked upon as almost im- 
possible, except as a preparation for death ; and how many anxious 
Mothers have blessed his name, as their dear little ones have found 
breath through his skilful hand ! 

After the bloody battle of Antietam, Dr. Gay rendered valuable 
services at Washington, in the Hospitals, and on his return, contributed 
to the "Medical Journal," a most splendid article on the treatment of 
wounds, and this able exposition attracted universal attention. 

November 21st, 1855, he married Elizabeth Greenough Lewis, 
daughter of his former teacher Dr. Winslow Lewis, and had five sons, 
three of whom are now living, and the eldest son is following his 
father's steps, in the Harvard Medical School, having now entered his 
second year. 

In the sick room Dr. Gay was a benediction, not so much for what 
he said, nor for what he did, as for what he WCCS, for he always 
had a smile, and his sympathies were great, and he was as gentle as a 
child, and almost by a glance, he could take in the patient's situation, 
and his noble heart made all the sick ones better as soon as they saw 
him. 

For about a j^ear before he died, he was quite feeble, and for 



awhile gave up practice, but at the time of his death, August 12th, 
1878, h? had resumed work, and on that day, he was unusually bright 
and happy and when he went away it was "in the twinkling of an eye." 

He was visiting his patients during the day, and receiving friends in 
the evening, and not till nearly eleven o'clock, did he complain of ill- 
ness and hardly had he spoken, and called his son, when that son held 
the lifeless body of his dear Parent. 

His Funeral took place on August 15th, and the services were 
conducted by the Revs. John F. W. Ware, and C. D. Bradlee. Mr. 
Ware made an address, and read selections from the Scriptures, and 
Mr. Bradlee read an original poem, offered "prayer," pronounced 
a benediction. 

At the grave the services were wholly conducted by Mr. Bradlee, 
and the body ^vas deposited in Mt. Auburn. 

The different papers of the day were filled with eulogies of the 
deceased, and there seemed to be an universal expression of deep 
sorrow, and everybody felt that a great and useful man had departed. 












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